fancy1: "Need to fix many problems"

TYLOO defeated Echo Fox in the initial match of Group A before Cloud9 decimated the Chinese on Dust2 in the winners' match.

Afterwards TYLOO edged out Echo Fox in the deciding series, which gave them a spot at IEM Oakland taking place from November 16-20. 

With the help of the team's manager and translator Marshall Ceong Law, we talked to YuLun "⁠Summer⁠" Cai about the team's matches at iBUYPOWER Masters and their chances at IEM Oakland.

We also found out whether other teams have started catching up to TYLOO in Asia and what the team's plans are for the future.

What did TyLoo's preparation look like prior to iBUYPOWER Masters?

To prepare for this event we've been to America for over a week, we practiced for over 8 hours a day to play matches against top level teams with hopes to qualify for IEM Oakland.

The first match against Echo Fox was quite close, what were the keys to win in the later stages?

Yesterday after the pistol rounds we were leading the game, but after that they changed their pace and we played too passive, waiting for them to find us, so we were trailing. In the second half it was pretty much the same, but then we had some pauses and addressed the issues and told each other not to be afraid of losing and to fight back.

We have to address the 0-16 against Cloud9, why did the team fall apart there?

We were not in our great form yesterday and also we didn't get used to their pace. There were some key rounds, the first gunrounds, they played quite fast, we weren't in position. And in the second gunround it was kind of the same, we weren't getting enough information to defend. And they built up the momentum.

In the rematch against Echo Fox, how were you able to come back from the big deficit on Dust2?

It's pretty much the same, we were like 0-9 and we took a pause. I told the others to play more aggressive, that we needed to change our pace, change what we had done. If we didn't do that, we'd lose. So we changed it a bit and fought back. In the second half, when we were in the later rounds, some of the players had the same mindset as yesterday, they were too afraid to be killed and to lose the rounds. But I think we had another pause again to tell each other not to be afraid, to play more aggressively, which was our own style, so we needed to do that.

A similar thing happened on Overpass, where you were trailing towards the end but took over the remainder of the map to win in another close scoreline, what were the adjustments towards the end of the last map?

I think some of our players have the problem that when we lose the pistol round and the first gunround, our confidence is shaky, we become so afraid to play, and that cost us many clutches. During the pauses we used like 10-15 seconds complaining to each other, while Karsa and me were trying to tell them not to do that, that we needed to change things and figure out what to do.

With that win you qualified to Oakland, an event with multiple top-tier teams, what chances do you think TyLoo will have to advance to playoffs?

When it's a best-of-one and a round robin, we will have a chance. If we play well, we can beat any team, but in best-of-three's we might have less of a chance.

I'd like to ask about the Asian scene, you recently started dropping matches and series to VG.CyberZen, while MVP Project also took you to a few close matches, do you think some of the other Asian teams are beginning to catch up to you?

VG can beat any team in Asia and they're consistently improving, and MVP Project is kind of the same, they have good strategies and they pay a lot of attention and practice so hard, they're trying to play every day. What they're lacking are individual skills, so if MVP can improve their skill, that team will be amazing. We need to fix many of our problems, despite leading in the Asian scene we still have many problems, especially communication, understanding of some of the maps and usage of utilities. If we fix those things, we can continue winning in the Asian scene. But I feel like VG is still our biggest competitor in Asia.

Since you've been able to sort out the long term visas for Europe and North America, which opens up a lot of opportunities for you, what are the plans for the future? How much will you travel around to bootcamp in those regions and attend more international events?

Marshall Ceong Law: First of all, next month we're going to ELEAGUE Major Qualifier, we're also fighting for our chance to be in the next DreamHack Masters. Those two events will be our main focus, as well as WESG, those are the three main goals. Besides that, we plan to have more bootcamps in Europe and North America next year, but we still need to find out what our schedule will be. We also hope to participate in one of the European or North American leagues, maybe the second-tier league, maybe to gain more experience, to have more competition with the rest of the scene.

Does that mean you're looking into staying in Europe or North America for a longer period of time than just for a bootcamp?

Marshall Ceong Law: We'll see if we can stay longer to play in a league. But it's still in the very early stages, we're not sure if we'll be able to do that, and I've heard ESL are planning to do a league in Asia and Oceania, so we'll see what the schedule will be next year and decide what to do.